Forever
by Alatariel
Summary: It's the start of the summer after Harry's seventh and last year at Hogwarts, and he's been invited to the Burrow to spend the summer, but a strange virus takes hold of Ginny, while many questions need to be answered. Why does his heart cry? Will she ever
1. Fly Away

Author Name: Ginny  
  
Title: Forever  
  
Category: Romance/Drama  
  
Summery: It's the start of the summer after Harry's seventh and last year at Hogwarts, and he's been invited to the Burrow to spend the summer, but a strange virus takes hold of Ginny, while many questions need to be answered. Why does his heart cry? Will she ever fly away? What IS Colin's problem, anyway?!  
  
Main Characters: Harry, Ginny, Colin, (H/G)  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Disclaimer: Sorry to announce, I do not own any of the characters in this story, JK Rowling and Warner Bros do. The plot of this story was inspired by the movie "Moulin Rouge". I hope you enjoy it!  
  
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Days had passed since the death of his only love. For some reason, the sun didn't seem to glow within it's radiance anymore, and the stars seemed to loose it's breath-taking beauty. He knew in his heart that no one had been hurt as much as he had... Ever since Ginny left, she had taken a part of him with her.  
  
His two best friends had tried their best over those exhausting first few days, but he found himself shutting them out... Shutting the word out from his pain. He refused to talk since her passing, and he hadn't since. He knew in his mind how Ginny would have hated to see him like this, but Harry couldn't help it... His life seemed to loose it's meaning each time the sun set.  
  
He felt his heart grow cold, his skin pale and his once sparkling emerald eyes dull slowly. His life felt suddenly like a withering flower, which had once been the brightest of them all in its happiness, and then it's very heart savagely torn from its figure to pass. To suffer painful, meaningless and agonizing days alone for eternity.  
  
Forever.  
  
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It had been the morning before the last day at Hogwarts School Of Witchcraft and Wizardry- Harry being just 17. The entire school had gathered together in the Great Hall for a celebration to honor the 7th, and last years that were off to find a new life for themselves in the wide wizarding world.  
  
"So you two are coming to spend the summer?" Ron said, with that same boyish grin spreading across his face.  
  
"Of course," Hermione said, smiling also.  
  
"Wouldn't miss it for the world," Harry answered.  
  
Most of that day passed quickly. Last goodbyes were said, fond memories shared and according to Hermione- last minute extra credit was put into good use, disregarding Ron's loud protests.  
  
As the day slowly came to its end, Harry gave a saddened sigh, lying on his bed in the boy's dormitory, soft snores filling the thin cold night air. I'll sure miss this place, he thought to himself wistfully as Hedwig silently swept into the room, the light of the moon flickering as her ghostly figure perched beside his four-poster bed.  
  
The bright morning sun rose into the sky that next day, hundreds upon hundreds of voices filled the air as hurried last minute farewells were spoken, the thick crowd of students slowly pushing their way onto the large red painted Hogwarts Express. Harry slid his way past a group of laughing Ravenclaws, looking into each compartment carefully, for anyone he knew. His knees went strangely weak when he noticed a girl sitting there, with an old battered book propped up in her lap. His mouth opened, and closed silently like a goldfish, his mind racing with a thousand different ways to start up a conversation.  
  
But before he could get anything sensible out, she looked up, her soft brown eyes glittering with the brilliant light of the sun, as the train slowly lurched forward.  
  
"Hello Harry," she spoke quietly, with the same familiar soft voice of the younger girl he had always felt he had known.  
  
"Could I. Sit with you Ginny?" a smile spread across her freckled face as she nodded a yes, sliding over next to the window so she could set her bag down next to her, clearing a seat for him.  
  
Harry sat across from her as she began reading her small, tattered, hand-me- down book once more. He watched her, embedding every detail of her soft skin, to quick, observant eyes. Inside, he could see her dark shadowed pain reflecting in her light innocent eyes. His heart would clench when he remembered all the times he had pushed her away, passed her by and blatantly forgotten her existence. Harry was the cause of her pain, her suffering, but above all else- her broken heart.  
  
As he sat, staring at her, vibrant Weasley flaming hair, freckle dotted skin and soft understanding cinnamon eyes, Harry could slowly feel his long denied feelings surface in a greater power then he had ever imagined.  
  
"Harry? HARRY!" He was suddenly startled out of his river of thoughts by an amused - looking Ron, standing at the doorway with an unusually happy smirk plastered on his face. Must have been snogging Hermione again by the look of it, Harry thought airily.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Time to go - Hermione is already outside waiting with mum!" Harry stood, and made his way toward the doorway of the compartment. Ginny looked down and stared fixedly at her tattered old book, her eyes beginning to redden from the stare.  
  
"Guess I'll er. See you at your house, then?" Harry tried, standing with one hand mindlessly grasping the edge of the frame of the door. She looked up at him, and smiled.  
  
"Yes, I suppose so."  
  
-------------------  
  
Ginny sighed, the tears threatening to fall for the second time that day. Countless times she had told herself not to cry anymore over him, but it just wouldn't work anymore. She gathered her things quickly onto a cart, and pushed through the thick crowd of Hogwarts students unnoticed.  
  
Invisible once again, she thought sadly, scanning the crowd for any familiar shades of bright red hair.  
  
"Hi Ginny," she turned around, startled by who stood in front of her. Colin Creevey smirked, "So is everything set up? Don't mean to sound rude, but you had said I could visit you this summer, and I asked my parents if I could come with you after the train."  
  
Ginny sighed inwardly to herself, grasping the metal handle on the cart tightly. She knew Colin really took no intrest in her at all, and maybe the only reason he had ever even considered going over her house, was because he had overheard her older brother Ron talking about Hermione and Harry visiting. Yes, Colin still looked up to Harry, but not as publicly as he used to.  
  
Suddenly, without any warning, her skin grew hotter, and the air around her become scarcer. Not again, oh please, Ginny thought desperately.  
  
"So can I come over?" Ginny quickly nodded him off, and Colin began to race off to where her family stood waiting over by the exit to the train station. The poor girl tried as hard as she could to struggle with her things and keep from collapsing onto the stone pavement. Ginny began coughing and breathing heavily as her lungs closed in.  
  
The crowd became one black mixed blur, with Ginny struggling to breathe and stay upright with a painful force. The last thing she saw was her older brother Fred, coming toward her. That's when she fainted- falling into his long unsuspecting arms.  
  
---------------  
  
"Will she be alright?" Molly Weasley whispered softly, looking down at her one and only daughter, feeling herself shake on the verge of hysterics.  
  
The doctor shook his head slowly, "I am sorry Mrs. Weasley. But all we can do is wait this virus out. The poor girl needs rest."  
  
The aged woman stood for a moment, her reddened eyes glancing down at her daughter, tears sliding down her cheeks. Ginny took a shuddering breath in, then tried to sit up, blinking from the sharp sunlight. Her mother sniffed and pushed Ginny quickly back down into bed as the doctor left swept through her bedroom door, pressing past the worried - looking red headed brothers.  
  
"Is she alright?"  
  
"Did she die??"  
  
"SHE CAN'T DIE FRED!!"  
  
"Will she be alright, SOON?!?!"  
  
Harry looked over the shoulder of his best friend Ron, feeling his eyes burn and his hands shake. Ginny was coughing painfully into a napkin, her skin ghostly pale and her lips turning a light blue. Mrs. Weasley looked worried, but forced herself to shoo all her boys, including Harry, Hermione and Colin, out of the room and into the hall. The last thing Harry saw was Ginny coughing horribly into a napkin. For one wild moment, he thought he had seen the white napkin turn a shade of red.  
  
"The doctor said she needs rest!" Molly yelled over the noise angrily, shutting the bedroom door quickly, closing Harry off from any further inspections. "Ginny will be fine by tonight. Now everyone downstairs for lunch."  
  
Hours past, and Harry felt sick with worry. He noticed Ron and his brothers visibly forcing their worry for Ginny internally to the back of their minds, wordlessly denying the fact anything really horrible was wrong with her, and she would recover in a few quick days. To distract them, George wildly suggested a rousing game of Quidditch. Harry slowly gave in, and the five boys made their way across the back yard and to the space of land where they could fly safely low without any other muggles around for bother.  
  
"SCORE!" Ron yelled loudly as the quaffle swept past Harry for the thousandth time. Harry stared at the ground, in no mood for any games that day. Fred and George hovered worriedly on the spot, but where was Colin? Harry turned to see the younger blonde haired boy walking back up to the tall house. The four boys dismounted their brooms, and followed quickly after him. Hermione, who had been sitting quietly with her Advanced After- Class Charms, book under a large oak tree, stood as well catching up with the group.  
  
"Hey Colin!" Ron reached him first at the back of their door, looking curiously at the shorter more timid boy. "Where are you off to in the middle of our game?"  
  
"I was. Um. Going to check on how Ginny was doing," he responded. Harry suddenly felt his heart clench, slapping himself mentally. How could I have not gone to see how Ginny was, myself? How? I have to go see if she's all right. But Colin had pressed past them all, walking back in through the house in search of the girl that had stolen Harry's heart away.  
  
For a moment, he felt himself glare after the younger boy, feeling a strange burning inside his heart screaming to get out. I can't be jealous. It's not like Colin is going out with Ginny, Harry thought reassuringly to himself. But he didn't know that now did he? Colin could be going up to hold her. Touch her. Kiss her. Harry shivered involuntarily, feeling the same anger flame inside him with a powerful vengeance.  
  
-----------------  
  
  
  
The jealousy will drive you  
  
Will drive you  
  
MAD  
  
  
  
His eyes upon your face  
  
His hand upon your hand  
  
His lips caress your skin  
  
IT'S MORE THEN I CAN STAND  
  
  
  
Why does my heart cry  
  
Feelings I can't fight  
  
  
  
You're free to leave me  
  
But just don't deceive me  
  
And please, believe me when I say  
  
I LOVE YOU  
  
-------------------  
  
A slow creak of the floorboard announced his presence, and Ginny swiveled around in her chair, looking a bit startled. The young blonde haired boy ran his sharp eyes down her features, and then strode purposely into her room. Ginny sighed.  
  
"Colin. Not to be rude or anything. But I'd like to be alone for a moment," she whispered, half to reassure herself. But the boy didn't seem perturbed by her sudden desire to shun him.  
  
"That's alright. I only came to see how you were," he answered, grabbing her arm almost forcefully. Ginny stared at the aged floorboards of her room unemotionally. She knew in her heart she could never really love Colin like he thought she did. But to break someone's heart. To shatter someone's dreams. No, Ginny thought to herself, I will never hurt someone like Harry hurt me. Not ever.  
  
"Yes Colin," she forced out as the hold on her arm grew painfully tighter.  
  
"Don't," he hissed in her ear, "Ever tell me to leave." Tears glazed her eyes, but she merely nodded silently. Oh someone, she thought warily, someone please help me. Save me from my own horrors.  
  
"I hope you feel better Ginny," Colin said, his voice growing eerily softer after a while, then released her of the painful hold on her flushed arm, and walked out the door as if nothing had ever happened.  
  
Ginny sat back on the wooden chair in her room, running her slender fingers over the aging lines of the table in front of her. Her soft brown eyes became distant as she felt her body beginning to pull back from its strength once more. This sickness had taken her a while before. But no one really minded it as something important. It scared her though. It scared her that this virus could be killing her slowly inside, and she'd never told Harry how she really felt before.  
  
"I promised myself I would tell him. Tell him before I die," Ginny whispered her thoughts aloud, watching the sun dip down below the line of the trees as the cool icy breath of the wind reached it's way through her opened window. A faint smile crossed her face as she surrendered to the moment - Forgetting all her troubles.  
  
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I follow the night  
  
Can't stand the light  
  
When will I begin?  
  
To live again  
  
  
  
One day I'll fly away  
  
Leave all this to yesterday  
  
What more could your love to for me  
  
When will love be through with me?  
  
  
  
Why leave live life from dream to dream  
  
And dread the day when dreaming ends  
  
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	2. Never Knew

Author's Note: Hi! I've finally got up the second chapter, and it would mean so much if I got some reviews, because I don't know if I should go on or not. What do you think?  
  
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Harry walked down the thin wooden stairs, running his fingers down the sleek strong railing. He shivered as his pale slender feet brushed onto the rugged warmth of the maroon colored rug in the living room. His emerald eyes glittered as he willingly approached the blazing firelight, falling back onto the comfortable couch, his thoughts whirling.  
  
"Couldn't sleep either?" Harry looked up, startled. "Oh! I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you."  
  
"Oh no. Er. That's all right. And no, I couldn't sleep either." Harry watched as Ginny smiled a bit at him, blushing as well. His heart warmed at once, and he could feel his low spirits lifting with that simple gesture she had given him. Ginny shivered as a cold draft blew through the window behind her chair. Harry suddenly noticed she only wore one of her older brothers shirts and a pair of checkered shorts.  
  
Blushing furiously he asked, "Do you. Want to come sit here? I mean if you're cold or something. You don't have too."  
  
"Of course," Ginny answered, and rose from the chair she had been occupying. Harry gulped despite this simple act as the girl he loved for so long sat down next to him on the creaking couch. She smiled warmly at him, and then stared back at the fire. Harry watched her eyes without thinking, and noticed how sad and vulnerable they looked.  
  
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Never knew I could feel like this  
  
Like I've never seen the sky before  
  
Want to vanish inside your kiss  
  
Every day I'm loving you more and more  
  
  
  
Listen to my heart, can you hear it sing  
  
Telling me to give you everything  
  
Seasons may change winter to spring  
  
But I love you, until the end of time  
  
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Their eyes met in that moment, and both held the gaze with great difficulty. Harry couldn't tell what she was thinking. But the pain to let her know what his heart cried grew stronger and stronger with the passing minutes. Her deep thoughtful brown eyes bore into his - And he could almost feel her heart cry it's words out to him. Begging him to hear her pain, and to help her. But Ginny turned away suddenly, as if sensing she had given away too much already.  
  
"I should really be getting some sleep. I promised mum I would help her with the cooking in the morning." She stood up, making her way across the carpeted floor to the door at the far end of the room. Harry followed, taking hold of her hand quickly.  
  
"Wait," he whispered. Ginny froze in mid - step, and he could feel her hold her breath. But the problem was. Harry didn't have the faintest idea what to say. What to say. Tell her how you feel, fool! His mind screamed like loud clanging bells.  
  
"I. I just wanted you. For you to know that." His voice grew quieter as he felt his face blush, and the embarrassment grow over his beating heart like a black plague. But when Ginny turned to face him, keeping the hold on his hand tight with hers, he could feel his strength coming back with a rush.  
  
"I love you Ginny." He almost whispered, but she caught it right away. Her mouth opened slightly with a mix of shock and. And panic? Harry's heart pounded through his chest as the seconds ticked by agonizingly.  
  
"Harry. You. Can't." He looked horrified for a moment, and pulled Ginny closer desperately to himself, thinking fast.  
  
"Please say you still have feelings for me. I. I'm so sorry for what happened in school. I didn't know what I was thinking. You're so much different from them all. I love you. I need you Ginny. Your what's kept me alive all these years." Harry stared with such a force into her eyes that she had to step back from him a little.  
  
"You don't need me, Harry," she stated in a soft voice, letting her hand drop back to her side. Even in the darkness of the shadows Harry could see the pain and suffering she had been going through. And he wanted nothing more then to hold her. Whisper those reassuring words that she needed. To him, it looked as if Colin had done nothing in her favor. What am I thinking? How do I know what Colin's done for her? I just love her too much to let her go again. Not again.  
  
"I couldn't let you go again Ginny. Please. Say you feel as I do." Harry hugged her slender body to his, feeling himself shake partly from the cold. And for another reason.  
  
Ginny coughed, pushing herself quickly away from Harry. "Please." She suddenly began gasping for air, and shuddering involuntarily as the burning sweat slid down her cheeks once more. Harry had to catch her in his arms as she fainted without warning. His heart beat furiously in his chest as he set her on the couch.  
  
"Oh my god. Are you all right, Ginny? GINNY?!" Harry whispered to her desperately, feeling the tears slide down his flushed cheeks. His very heart shook with worry for the girl that lay in front of him on the couch.  
  
"S-Sorry," Ginny sat up suddenly, blinking. Harry leapt to his feet in his relief, and hugged her tightly in his warm arms. She tensed, but he felt her relax after a moment and rest her head on his shoulder.  
  
"What's going on?"  
  
Both Harry and Ginny leapt apart, and stood a good distance away from each other as her older brother walked from the shadows, his red hair glinting in the dull flickering light of the fireplace.  
  
"Ron. We were. Uh."  
  
"I had fallen asleep, and Harry had gone to the bathroom, and he happened to spot me on the couch, and he kindly woke me up so I could go off to bed. Thank you again, Harry," Ginny said simply, her expression clouding over so he could no longer read it. He could also feel his heavy heart sink as he watched her walk from the room and up the stairs to bed.  
  
"What was that all about, Harry?" Ron asked slowly, and Harry knew at once the reaction he would have gotten if he told his best friend anything of what had just happened. To depressed and rejected to respond, he merely shrugged and left to return to the bedroom he shared with his best Weasley friend.  
  
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That morning, the whole family, including the guests sat down at the kitchen table for breakfast. Harry couldn't eat, his stomach twisted in unusual knots as Ginny entered the room in her pajamas, helping her mother set the table and make the breakfast.  
  
I suppose I deserve it though, he thought to himself miserably. All those times I disregarded her at school, and now she's moved on. I hope Colin's treating her well, because if he isn't I'll be the first he'll have to deal with, the little scum.  
  
"What's WRONG with my toast?!?!" Ron roared, his face flushed as he stared fixedly at Hermione sitting next to him, her eyes currently clouded with a disdainful expression at the toast that lay on his plate, untouched.  
  
"Nothing, it's just- is it really that necessary to use all that jam? You're practically using up the entire bottle, if you ask me!"  
  
"ME?!?! You shouldn't be talking! How much butter do you use on your toast?!" His two best friends glared dangerously at each other, and Harry could even smell the intense heat that radiated off their immense staring contest they had designed. No one dared to interrupt, for fear of deliberately poking the sleeping dragon within the two.  
  
Suddenly, Ron burst out laughing, completely knocking his juice off the table. Hermione followed suit, but not expressing her amusement with the kitchenware, but lightly slapping Ron's hand in a playful manner. Fred coughed gruffly, (lovers tiff), George snorting loudly into his own cup of orange juice in laughter.  
  
"Now now, everyone, settle down, it's too early for me to put up with you boys at this time in the morning," Mrs. Weasley grumbled, bustling around the room, cleaning the plates up magically with her wand.  
  
Harry turned his attention back to Ginny, but she was gone. In a complete state of panic, he looked around wildly for Colin- But the two were nowhere in sight.  
  
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Ginny made her way up to her room quietly, shadows following behind her as she slipped through the door. The only problem was, someone was already inside it. She had to muffle a scream with her thin hand as the figure stepped into the light. Ginny sighed, feeling her heart beat rapidly.  
  
"Where have you been, Ginny?" Colin asked softly, but she could hear the dangerous tint in his voice. Her hands shook nervously as she stepped forward. He won't hurt you this time. Don't worry. He's just asking a simple question.  
  
"I. I was downstairs. Helping mum with the breakfast."  
  
"DON'T LIE TO ME!!" Colin slapped her across the face, and Ginny faced the wall feeling her cheek flush and throb with the sudden harsh contact. Her eyes watered with burning tears, her breathing becoming sharper.  
  
"I know you were with Harry this whole time. I told you before to come to me first. I know you still love him Ginny, and I want you to forget it! You know I could do anything to him. I could even have him killed."  
  
"Killed." Ginny's voice faded, the words finally sinking in.  
  
"Push him away, lie to him Ginny," Colin whispered in her ear, making her skin crawl. Light tears slid down her pale face, but she held her head high.  
  
"I will. Tomorrow."  
  
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Ginny yawned, sitting up in her bed the next morning. She felt a bit dizzy at the moment, but let the worried thoughts that flew through her mind pass for the moment. She could still feel the painful mark on her cheek from the night before. But she refused to think about it for a while. The glimmering sunlight trickled through her opened window, as she sat down at her desk to brush her curly flaming hair. Looking down at the papers lying in front of her, she suddenly realized she had to squint in order to see the words properly.  
  
Just tired, she thought to herself reassuringly. But when she stood to find a pair of clothes, the sickening feeling swept over her once more, sending her back onto her bed. Ginny could feel her heart pounding as the realization took over her mind, silencing her screaming thoughts. I. I must really be.  
  
"Good morning Ginny!" Hermione said, stopping in front of her door. "You'd better get dressed. We're all planning to go down to Diagon Alley for some shopping! It'd be wonderful if you would come." Ginny blinked weakly, but nodded trying to smile despite her state. Hermione seemed assured, and kept walking down the hall past her door.  
  
Why does this have to happen to me, Ginny thought, her heart sinking. She had known all along what kind of sickness she had had- But just hadn't told anyone. To afraid to admit the painful truth.  
  
The young girl stumbled, but found the energy to stand in front of her long glassy mirror. She touched her cold blue lips, her reflection doing the same. Her skin had paled considerably, and her figure had thinned out because of her lack of food. Her knees felt weak, and her hands shook as her cheeks began to flush, her temperature rising.  
  
Ginny sat alone on her chair as it creaked under her weight. Just wait it out. Her head fell suddenly with a thump onto the wooden table, feeling her whole being grow weaker. Brown vibrant eyes dimming, skin flushing and growing damp, lips icy and blue. Her thoughts swam. She felt alone. She felt lost. Ginny didn't want to die, but sitting here in the darkened room. And with the sun slowly making it's way to the other side of the tall Burrow. It made her re-think her life the way it was. Was she meant to be taken from this earth? It felt so soon. But it was someone else's turn to live. And she had to give her life for it.  
  
Taking a shuddering breath, Ginny stood up, the dizziness overtaking her slightly once again. Throwing on a skirt and top, she slipped her sandals delicately onto her icy feet. She walked downstairs, as if nothing had happened. But in her heart, she knew this would be her last day. Her last chance to let Harry know how much he meant to her. And how she wanted him to carry on. Carry on for her. For everyone.  
  
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The fiery sun burned in the sky as the crowd pushed to get to the various shops below. A beautiful snowy owl swooped down from the sky like a ghost, gasps of wonder following after it's silent flight over the many heads of the crowd. Some people recognized this owl immediately, and watched in curiosity as it slowed down and perched on a tall boy's shoulder.  
  
"Hi Hedwig," Harry said, stroking her soft white feathers. Ron walked ahead of him, along with his two twin brothers. Hermione was walking next to Harry, Crookshankes following them all by her ankles. Ginny took up the rear, looking around at the different signs of the shops for anything interesting.  
  
"DOES ICKLE RONNIEKINS NEED A HUG?!" George burst out unexpectedly. Harry and Hermione laughed as Ron's older brothers closed in with evil smirks plastered on their faces. His best friend yelped, and dived into the closest shop, being the one conveniently filled with candy of all sorts.  
  
"We'll get the little bugger later, don't you worry," Fred smiled after his little brother, standing at the end of the shop with an apprehensive look on his freckled face. "Let's go, Gred."  
  
Harry, Hermione and Ginny followed after Ron in the shop, and after a while the small group split up to look longingly at all the different colored candies on the shelves. Harry's emerald eyes glittered in the soft candlelight as he searched for something nice to buy for Ginny.  
  
It really doesn't matter what you get her, she still won't love you, he thought sadly to himself. But before he could find anything, he heard his best friend's distinct growl of disgust coming from behind him. Turning around, he saw Draco Malfoy, raising an amused eyebrow at Ron, who was shaking with anger. Ginny stood next to her brother, a horrified expression crossing her face.  
  
"Why do you two Weasel's look so surprised? I should be the one who's shocked, seeing you two in any store is some kind of bonus. Your Mudblood- loving father finally get a raise for hanging around freaks?" With that, Ron made a lunge at Malfoy, and Ginny instinctively grabbed the back of his collar and yanked backward, hard. Harry and Hermione quickly made their way to where the group were standing, or rather Ron was struggling to get a swing at the conceded young 17 year old stood, smirking.  
  
"You can say anything you like, Malfoy, but your father isn't here to save your skin if we let Ron go," Harry sneered, keeping on hand tightly on Ron's arm, preventing him from wringing the blonde-haired boy's neck.  
  
"Don't talk about my father that way, Potter, or he could have Weasel's fired before you can get home to that pathetic excuse of a -" But what it was, they never found out, because at that moment, Ron slipped from Harry's grip, ran around Hermione and grabbed Malfoy by the neck, pushing him against the wall. All three gasped, and tried desperately to get Ron to let him go, but it was no use. Harry shivered as he looked into Ron's dangerously narrowing blue eyes, boring into Malfoy's.  
  
"Don't you ever say things like that about my family or friends again, do you hear me?" Draco tried to speak, but it came out as a faint squeak. Ron's hands tightened, and Malfoy's eyes widened. "Answer me," Ron growled, but Hermione placed a hand on her friend's shoulder.  
  
"Ron, let him go."  
  
With a last look at Malfoy, he gruffly pushed the boy off the wall and wiped his hands as if he had touched something rather slimy. The boy made his way out the door without another word.  
  
The day passed quickly after that, when the sun finally began to set over the four. They soon met back with Fred and George, whose pockets were strangely bulging. The six were finally back at the Burrow, safe and sound to Molly Weasley's great relief. After dinner, the rest went off to bed early for no apparent reason, but Harry felt strangely suffocated in the house, so he made his way out the back door, and out onto the moonlit grass of the backyard. He shivered as his bare feet brushed over the cold ground, but he kept his emerald eyes to the sky.  
  
Stars glittered and winked down at him, free up above in the blackness of space. Harry suddenly felt small, and for a moment, he felt like everyone else on earth. Just a normal person, without any cares for evil Death Eaters hunting him out of anger because of that fateful night he had killed Voldemort.  
  
Shivering, Harry sat down underneath a tree, bringing his knees up against him in a desperate attempt to warm himself, despite the fact it was the summer. Why doesn't she love me, why does she push me away? Is it me? Is it because I ignored her in school? Is it Colin? All of these thoughts confused and saddened Harry greatly, so he merely stared down at his hands, trying to make sense of something in his life.  
  
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Ginny sat by the shadowed lake in her backyard, alone. The moon above lit her ghostly pale face like a white fire, her once flaming red hair turning a faint orange. She watched the fish swim around the water in front of her, blankly. A bird flew overhead, a firefly dancing gracefully in the woods and a turtle sliding down back beneath the reeds of the lake.  
  
Why can't I tell him? Why does Colin shadow my heart's pleading? I so want to tell Harry. To pour myself out to him, but I can't. I will never put him in jeopardy. I couldn't.  
  
"Ginny?"  
  
Startled, she stood up quickly and turned around to face the one person that had occupied her thoughts since the first time she had laid eyes on him.  
  
"Harry?" She responded, or questioned simply. The two stared at each other, their gaze intensifying with the passing minutes. She watched as Harry nervously made his way forward, and touched her arm carefully. Her brown eyes rose to meet his, and the two stood, watching each other, and waiting for one to make the first move.  
  
"I'm sorry," Ginny finally felt herself croak.  
  
"Sorry.? Sorry for what?" Harry asked hurriedly, wondering if he had done something wrong, and he dropped his hand almost immediately at his side.  
  
"I-"  
  
"No, Ginny, please. If it's me, I'm so sorry, but I can't live without you! I should be the sorry one for not noticing you all through school, I should be the one taking the blame, it's my fault not-"  
  
There was a deafening silence as Ginny pressed her lips against his. She wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing his head downward to meet hers. The new couple stood together there under the tree, pressed closely against each other.  
  
"I love you," Ginny whispered hoarsely in Harry's ear after a while, sending chills up his spine. He smiled down at her for a long while, relishing in the moment and boring her image into his mind forever.  
  
------------------  
  
The fiery morning sun rose into the sky, announcing its presence with a beautiful radiance. Colin sat in the corner of the guest room, huddled in the last corners of the dark shadows. His face was an eerie gray, and his eyes glittered with malice and deep jealousy at the rising sun, as if he were furious at its arrival.  
  
She will come to me, Colin thought angrily. Ginny deserves better then that pathetic Potter; he can't offer her anything but danger and life - threatening situations. I have power, money and looks. What DOES she see in him? How could she choose him over me, and what's more- She went behind my back for him. Haven't I taught her anything? Isn't she afraid of me YET?!  
  
"But I will have her," Colin spoke softly to himself in a deathly low voice. "Ginny will come to me when night falls."  
  
-----------------  
  
  
  
Ginny twirled around the kitchen in the sudden glittering sunlight, colors dancing along the walls, painted by the differently shaped stain - glass windows. Her heart soared like a bird for the first time in years, and she'd never been happier in her life ever before. She wanted to keep this feeling in her heart forever, capture Harry in her arms for all of time and relish in his scent until the day they parted from this earth.  
  
"You look happy," smiled Hermione from behind her. Ginny spun around the room once more, past the dishes that were magically washing themselves in the sink.  
  
"You have no idea! Oh, Hermione, he said he loved me!" Her smile slightly faded as she watched her red headed friend dance about the brightly lit room.  
  
"Love?"  
  
"Yes, of course! Can you believe it?" Ginny began to hum an old muggle song she'd heard on the radio, something called, Come What May, but stopped immediately as she noticed the look on her friend's face. "Hermione. What's wrong?"  
  
"What about, Colin?" For some odd reason, it took about 2 long minutes for her words to finally sink in, and touch Ginny's heart.  
  
"Colin." She whispered to herself drearily, and she suddenly felt the sickening feeling of foreshadowing take over her soul. Or maybe it was the long forgotten sickness finally striking her unexpectedly, she didn't know. Ginny wouldn't ever know.  
  
Everything began in an agonizing slow motion, as Ginny's knees weakened, causing her whole body to slide helplessly to the floor. She could feel her pale cheek graze against the cold floorboards of the kitchen, and her ragged breathing filled her ears as her sweat slid down her face quickly.  
  
"GINNY!" Hermione positively shrieked, and dropped to her knees, trying to help her friend up. In a desperate attempt to give her air, she rolled her over on her back, and let her lean her head on her legs. "Ginny, say something!!"  
  
Her chest heaved painfully in the effort to breathe; her skin grew horribly pale and icily cold. "Get. Help." Ginny croaked in a voice barely audible.  
  
"Alright. Alright. Just, hold on!" Hermione slid Ginny's light body to the hard cold floor, and sprinted out of the room at top speed up the staires to wake everyone up.  
  
Ginny lay sprawled on the wooden floor, now unable to move. She could feel the air around her close, and her breathing became now desperate and ragged with need. What's going on? She tried to think, tried to make sense of something, tried to think of Harry. Hard coughs racked her lungs, as she twisted painfully in the attempt for air, while sparkling red blood slid from her lips.  
  
Help....  
  
--------------------  
  
  
  
Colin listened to the sounds of hammering footsteps ring through the halls as the entire family ran down the stairs to help her. He didn't move a muscle to follow them, only sat in his room, staring at the thin black stick in his hand. To the un - trained muggle eye, this normal everyday stick might look harmless, but at that moment, it held a dark sickening power that would determine a young girl's life or death.  
  
"It isn't fair," he muttered uselessly to himself, the grip on his wand tightening ever so slightly. "Stupid, Potter."  
  
Years ago, when Colin was young, the students of Hogwarts might have said he looked up to, or even went as far as using the word worshipped, Harry Potter. Yes, he used to be known for roaming the halls aimlessly without a purpose, and seen carrying a small black camera around with him, trying to catch a glimpse of the famous Boy - Who - Lived.  
  
"Those days are over," Colin whispered darkly to himself.  
  
No one really knows what drove him over the edge or what possessed him to suddenly grow cold and bitter to the people around him. Maybe it was the fact, that as time passed, he suddenly realized all the attention Harry was receiving from so many people. From all his friends, his admirers (including Colin), the Professors (even Snape) and even some Slytherins, but they wouldn't admit it of course. But most of all, the one person who Colin felt closest to also stood in the shadow of Harry Potter's greatness.  
  
Ginny Weasley.  
  
To Colin, it seemed as if she didn't deserve to be poor, or to walk in the shadows of others. Her voice was long silenced by her adoration for Potter, and it sickened Colin to the core of his heart to watch her follow after him, day after day without any acknowledgement whatsoever from his part. She doesn't care though, hissed a nasty voice in his mind, ripping through his thoughts. Anything for the famous 'Harry Potter'.  
  
"That will all change," Colin said aloud to himself. In his twisted mind, only one thing stood out from all the rest. To win Ginny back, he must put her in life - threatening danger, so Potter would finally realize his mistake, of loosing her.  
  
Loosing her forever.  
  
---------------- 


	3. Your Song

Author's Note: Thank you so much to: Erasmas, dkg and Pheobers14 for reviewing! It means so much, and I'm rather sorry this chapter is a bit shorter then the last two- But I do hope it answers a lot of your questions, Erasmas! Thanks again!  
  
----------------  
  
  
  
Ginny stood silently in the kitchen, shivering ever so slightly from the cold whispers of the morning breeze from the open window. The sun poured over her crimson hair, as if setting it afire. He stood next to her, his eyes filled with worry and staring fixedly at her pale face, his hands shaking with the sickening feeling that he might just loose her forever next time..  
  
"Harry, I'm alright," she whispered softly, her expression blank. His emerald eyes blazed in the fierce sunlight as his gaze locked with hers. Harry could feel his heart sink as he stared into her faded brown eyes. If only I had been quicker, he thought mournfully at the sight of her.  
  
"O-Of course y-your all right," Harry answered hoarsely, holding Ginny's icy hand in his. She grasped it tightly in return, shaking slightly- filling Harry's thoughts with doubt and concern.  
  
"Pardon," Hermione said from the doorway. The two turned around, Ginny know holding Harry's left arm for support, breathing heavily with the simple action, her hand growing tighter. Harry looked at her worriedly, and then turned back to Hermione.  
  
"Yes? Is the doctor here yet?"  
  
"He's in the living room," she stated quietly. Harry helped Ginny slowly through the hall; his heart pounding in his chest as he sent nervously glances toward her face. Anything could set him off, especially when Ginny began coughing violently into her free hand as they reached the packed living room.  
  
"Oh my poor dear!" Mrs. Weasley shrieked, taking her daughter into her arms and hugging her softly, running her hand through her hair. But Ginny pushed past her mother, family and friends, and grabbed a napkin from the table, coughs racking her weak lungs.  
  
"Oh bloody Merlin.." Fred gasped, and everyone else's eyes widened in utter shock, catching a glimpse of thick red blood seeping into the white cloth, staining it like a shadow on the sun.  
  
"Everyone please, back up!" For a second, everyone's attention focused on the stout - looking doctor opening his bag and rummaging around in it for an unseen object.  
  
"N-Neville?" The familiar looking young Gryffindor turned, and smiled warmly at Ron's voice.  
  
"Yes, I'm a doctor now, Ron. Heard the news and rushed over to help. Ginny, let me see that napkin." She nodded, and handed Neville the white piece of cloth as she sat down, her coughs quieting for the first time in hours.  
  
"I see.." The former Gryffindor whispered to himself, and finally pulled out a small book, which he promptly began flipping through its pages. Harry still couldn't help but keep his eyes locked on Ginny, sitting alone, cold and deathly sick without him his help..  
  
"Of COURSE!" Hermione exclaimed suddenly, making everyone jump in surprise. "Neville," she began, ignoring the tense air. "Are you looking for the potion that could cure the muggle sickness known as tuberculosis?"  
  
"Ginny's virus isn't as simple as that. From what Mrs Weasley has been telling me, and from what the books say- this is dark magic we're dealing with here, and I'm not even sure if I can find anything to cure it," he responded sadly, still turning the pages hopelessly. Ginny stood, and walked to the back door slowly, forcing herself painfully to move. She then turned to face everyone with shinning eyes.  
  
"I'll be fine.. everyone," she whispered hoarsely. "Forget about.. me, I'll be.. fine.." And with that, Ginny left the Burrow, and in turn- left Harry behind.  
  
-------------  
  
  
  
My gift is my song and this one's for you  
  
And you can tell everybody that this is your song  
  
It may be quite simple but now that it's done  
  
Hope you don't mind  
  
I hope you don't mind that I put down in words  
  
How wonderful life is now you're in the world  
  
  
  
I sat on the roof and I kicked off the moss  
  
Well some of the verses well, they...they got me quite cross  
  
But the sun's been kind while I wrote this song  
  
It's for people like you that keep it turned on  
  
  
  
So excuse me forgetting but these things I do  
  
You see, I've forgotten if they're green or they're blue  
  
Anyway the thing is what I really mean  
  
Yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen  
  
  
  
And you can tell everybody this is your song  
  
It may be quite simple but now that it's done  
  
I hope you don't mind  
  
I hope you don't mind that I put down in words  
  
How wonderful life is now you're in the world  
  
-----------------  
  
  
  
The room was filled with black books of all sorts, and dark emerald walls that seemed to flicker with the crackling fire from the gray dusty hearth. A peculiar - looking figure rose from his chair, and closed the blinds of the only window left in the room, slowly and silently. Shadows raced into the corners, spreading along the floors like a velvet sickness.  
  
"Is everything in place?" Colin asked, his voice strangely lowering as the sun sank beneath the line of the trees.  
  
"Yes sir, Ginny Weasley's virus has almost completely taken her over. Just one more day of our time and-"  
  
"SILENCE, CRABBE!"  
  
The stout boy nodded quickly, sitting back down next to the taller, now nervous Goyle on the expensive green couch that felt oddly like dragon hide.  
  
"Excellent.. Excellent.. Just a few more hours, and I'll finally take the one thing Potter cares the most about. Forever making my mark on his pathetic life as he had made his on mine so long ago." Horrible memories flashed through his mind of that day Harry went to fight the war of evil Death Eaters, lead by the in-famous Lord Voldemort, against the good willed wizards of peace. His father once being the second highest - ranking Dark Wizard, had also gone to fight, representing the dark side. The young boy twitched slightly, turning his back toward his two friends, and focusing his eyes on the sinking sun through the crack in the shades of the window. I will avenge my father, he thought bitterly.  
  
As the moon rose, Colin's eyes faded from brown, to a piercing gray - and his bright blonde sandy hair stained itself back to it's natural lighter color, slicking itself back onto the head of a different young man almost instantly. Where the kind, vibrant Colin Creevey stood, the older, broader shouldered young man took his place.  
  
Draco Malfoy.  
  
"Hand me more of that poly - juice potion, Goyle," Malfoy snapped fiercly.  
  
Goyle stood up quickly, almost knocking the liquid contents on the floor, and nervously took the dark glass off the table, handling it carefully. The real Colin sat in another chair nearest the table, raising an expectant eyebrow. But if he was intending on asking something, he kept his mouth shut at the moment.  
  
"Hurry up then," Malfoy hissed impatiently, and snatched the glass out of Goyle's shaking hand, downing the sickening purple colored drink in one gulp. With a violent cough that sent Draco back into his chair, he felt his skin begin to tingle oddly. His two friends, Crabbe and Goyle, watched with wide eyes, as Draco Malfoy's body grew suddenly shorter, and mold itself into the appearance of the boy that sat amidst all this, with an expression of expectancy written on his face.  
  
"Well? Don't I get my pay, then?" Malfoy raised his head, their identical eyes locking for a moment, until he raised his head- almost laughing.  
  
"Pay? Why should I give you a dime, Creevey?" He whispered in a dangerous tone of voice, handling a bag of gold in his pocket- letting the metal clash upon metal to turn Colin insane. Unfortunately, it was working.  
  
"Y-You.. You promised me money for letting you use my body! I switched to You - Know - Who's side for you, Malfoy! You know ruddy well the deal we made together," Colin retorted angrily, but immediately regretted opening his mouth as Malfoy stood slowly, raising his inky black wand.  
  
"Someone doesn't understand the meaning of, 'no'," Draco hissed, his voice almost inaudible over the blazing fire. Colin's bright eyes widened in horror, and he stood quickly, knocking over his chair in panic.  
  
"N-No.. P-Please.. Don't h-hurt me!! I'll do a-anything," he exclaimed hoarsely, backing up toward the wooden door nervously. Crabbe and Goyle exchanged knowing, hopeful glances as Malfoy appeared in front of Colin, wand pointed at his heart.  
  
"So sorry, Creevey." Was the last thing anyone heard before the dull thud echoed throughout the dark Malfoy Manor that night.  
  
------------- 


	4. She's Mine

Author's Note: Thank you so much everyone that has been reviewing! (cutebabystar217, amyza, Erasmas, dkg and Pheobers14) It means so much to me, I didn't think anyone would read my story! Cutebabystar217- The lyrics are from the movie "Moulin Rouge", which I certainly do not own. (But it's a wonderful movie!) I've also been asked many times if I knew that Colin Creevey's father was actually a muggle milkman, and I have looked it up and found that he was. Thanks for the tip! But if you read the 3rd chapter, then you would find it doesn't really matter all that much any longer- but just to clear this mess up, Colin needed money at the time, so he agreed to help Malfoy, and look where it's got him. Thanks again!  
  
--  
  
  
  
The pure white moon hung in the dark sky of glittering stars overhead, but she paid no notice. Her feet crunched underneath the dead, fallen leaves in the pitch - black darkness surrounding her that unusually cold frosty night. In her heart, she knew that it might not have been the right thing to leave everyone, but she had to.  
  
I don't even know if this sickness can be passed on to someone else, she thought warily. To leave her entire family, to tear her heart from the people she had shared her home with forever and to leave them behind hurt more painfully then she had ever imagined- but one person over shadowed her thoughts from them all.  
  
"Harry.." Her voice was hoarse and quiet in the darkness of the night, but she kept walking through the woods of the Forbidden Forest until her knees grew stiff with pain.  
  
Suddenly, without warning, someone grabbed her around the neck with one arm, and around the waist with the other from behind. The cloaked figure's breathing was harsh, but he kept his hold tight and fast. Her heart pounded through her chest fiercely, but she had had no time to react.  
  
"Ginny," a young man's voice hissed in her ear dangerously.  
  
"C-Colin.." As much as Ginny tried, her voice still sounded weak and vulnerable. She tried to struggle, but his tight hold on her would not budge. She could feel his breath on her neck, and the slow evil smirk that spread across his face.  
  
"Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." Ginny's mind raced with questions, and screamed in horror. Malfoy? Why was he there? What did he want with her? She heard him draw his wand, and felt the cold tip of the wood touch the side of her forehead. "Adgravesco."  
  
Ginny wrenched forward in reaction to the spell, shaking violently from the horrible coughs wracking her lungs savagely of air. Her watery eyes widened in terror as the harder she choked, her throat burned like a fierce fire. Malfoy tightened his grip on her neck as she raised her head to the skies above slightly, her eyes slowly beginning to close. A drop of blood slid down from her parted mouth, glittering in the moon - light.  
  
"You suffer- Potter suffers," Draco laughed softly in her ear, but Ginny couldn't respond. "Your mine," was the last thing she heard before the sickness took her into sleep.  
  
--  
  
  
  
"You CAN'T tell me to stay here!" Harry screamed angrily, grabbing his black cloak and throwing it over his shoulders, also pocketing his wand and making his way into the living room with a small bag of Floo Powder. Ron and Hermione followed after him quickly, wands drawn.  
  
"Harry, you're not thinking rationally!" Hermione exclaimed hurriedly.  
  
"Ginny will come back, Harry, we just have to wait-"  
  
"THAT'S EXACTLY THE PROBLEM!" Harry yelled, whirling around to face the two closest people to family he had ever had. For the first time, he couldn't think. He couldn't breath. All of his thoughts focused on saving Ginny's life- for he knew what would happen to him if he failed to. "Look.. I have to find Ginny.. I love her. I love her more then anything, and the both of you will just have to except that."  
  
Harry stepped into the fireplace, and raised his hand as the powder seeped through his fingers quickly. But before he had time to think of where he was going, Neville ran into the room abruptly, carrying something in his arms.  
  
"HARRY! Harry, wait!" He ran to the other side of the room, gasping for breath, but it didn't seem to stop him as he pushed the object in Harry's hands, causing him to drop the Floo Powder.  
  
"Neville, what..?"  
  
"It wasn't Colin this whole time, Harry! It was Malfoy, hurting Ginny!" Hermione gasped, brown eyes wide with fear as she clutched onto Ron's tense arm. Harry stared down at the crumpled, eerie burnt lettering on the parchment. It read:  
  
Potter,  
  
I've got her, and you know full well I won't give her up without a fight. Why don't you stop by my place- and we could try and strike a deal? Make sure you're here by 12:00 midnight, or she dies. You heard me. She's mine.  
  
Have a nice day, Draco Malfoy  
  
Harry's hearts clenched in fury as he watched the piece of parchment suddenly flame and burn into hot ashes. His emerald eyes glittered dangerously as his hand dug into the bag and step into the empty fireplace. Without another word, he raised his hand in front of him, the powder slowly slipping through his fingers like dust.  
  
"Wait, Harry don't-"  
  
"We'll come with yo-"  
  
"MALFOY MANNOR!" Harry screamed, and disappeared in the engulfing green fire that suddenly roared to life.  
  
-- 


	5. The Show Must Go On

--  
  
Darkness.  
  
Ginny's painful groan echoed around her as she tried to raise her head, but it wouldn't budge. Some kind of cloth was tied tightly around her neck, wrists, ankles and around her waist to force her to lie motionlessly on the floor of the room. She sub consciously watched her harsh, gasping frosty breath, with eyes slightly open with a tired longing for sleep.  
  
This is it, Ginny whispered in her mind. Alone forever. Her very heart felt sick and freezing inside. She couldn't move, nor blink, and her throat blazed with such a fire when she coughed- her faint colored eyes watered, as if speaking of the horrors she was feeling.  
  
Inside, the spell was slowly taking over her lungs to cause Ginny to cough up now huge amounts of thick, dark red blood. The sparkling liquid slid down over the sides of her pale white lips, staining her skin and vaguely blanketing her freckles with a tinted crimson, almost giving color back into her face with a sickening twist behind it.  
  
If noticed, the fireplace was blazing with a bright, green light, occasional sparks spitting here and there from its intensity. But the fire was icy cold, which in tern froze Ginny's very heart, causing the virus to spread through her more rapidly. As Malfoy had said before, the poor young girl only had until midnight to live, and by the looks of the clock placed on the mantel of the fireplace, that was in exactly 20 minutes.  
  
Help....  
  
"Ah, Ginny. Ginny Weasley, am I right?" For a moment, Ginny could only stare helplessly up at the gray ceiling of the office, still tied to the floor. But ever so slowly, the dark cloaked figure slipped into her line of vision. It was Draco Malfoy.  
  
"P-P-Please," Ginny forcedly sobbed the words out of her tired, agonizing lungs. Draco merely smirked evilly down at her, his eyes flashing with amusement.  
  
"Potter will be here soon.. Or at least, he better be, for your sake." His light gray eyes traveled to the clock on the mantel once more as it slowly moved it's long hand upon the black lettered three. "15 minutes, Weasel, 15 minutes."  
  
Very slowly, Ginny felt her body begin to detach itself from consciousness. Her world began to turn upside down, her eyes closing with it. She could also vaguely feel the tight binds around herself disappear, but it was no longer any use. The last thing Ginny remembered, was staring up at that smirk plastered on Malfoy's face, which made her skin crawl and her heart freeze like ice. Then..  
  
Black.  
  
--  
  
  
  
Hermione sat on the floor of the living room, with her right hand sliding over the various lettering of incantations, ingredients for various healing potions and what not, while her left hand continuously poured different colored liquids into the large, black cauldron, causing the potion to bubble and hiss.  
  
"Ron, we need two and a half cups of powdered inûtilius herba," she said, eyeing the ingredients listed on the page. For a moment, the faint sound of pouring into a cup stopped. Hermione looked up at Ron, kneeling next to the coffee table with an expression of confusion as he held the water pitcher in his hand, poising it over a small cup.  
  
"Powdered intulious herbology- what?!"  
  
"Weeds, Ron. It's Latin for weeds," Hermione turned back to the frothing potion, hiding the small smile that crept up to her lips. She listened as Ron got up, and raced out to the backyard just as Neville walked into the living room with a handful of crimson flowers. He set them on the coffee table, his face contorted as if he smelled something horrible.  
  
"Neville.. What's-" but Hermione knew at once why he had had that expression as the sickening aroma of the blood stained flowers reached her nose. On an instinct, Hermione clasped her hand over her face, trying to rid the smell away from her senses.  
  
"Don't stop Hermione- Ginny only has 15 minutes!" Neville exclaimed, helping by crushing the petals of the so - called maestus flower, and pushing them into the cauldron, causing its fumes to turn a sickly brown. Ron came in a few minutes later with a jar of the powdered weeds, and when it had settled into the potion, Hermione stood up, pushing her sleeves further up her arms, and filled a vile with the dark green potion.  
  
"It's finished," she whispered with a hint of pride as Ron grabbed the Floo Powder, and stuck his wand in his pocket. Neville looked somewhat worried, but stepped back far enough to give the two some room to travel.  
  
"Tell mum we've just gone out, and not to worry alright Longbottom?" Ron asked, stepping into the fireplace, his hand outstretched as the powder slid through his fingertips.  
  
"Yes, I will. Not to worry, just be careful, and save your sister!" Ron nodded, and straightened himself up, opening his mouth.  
  
"MALFOY MANNOR!"  
  
The fireplace blazed with a sudden green breath of life as the flames engulfed Ron's body, and just as suddenly as it had happened, he was gone. Hermione took a handful of the powder as well, and stepped into the fireplace making sure to mind her head of the mantel.  
  
"Take care of the Weasley's, Neville.. Their all such nice people," Hermione said, tucking the vile deeper into her cloak pocket, and raising her hand forward. Neville nodded, and watched as Hermione took a breath.  
  
"MALFOY MANNOR!"  
  
Then, they were gone.  
  
--  
  
  
  
Harry lie on his back, the dust of the fireplace causing him to cough as he stood up slowly, groping around the dark wooden floors of the room for his glasses.. Ah, there they were. Putting them on, and making sure his back was to the wall, Harry stood up, wand raised as he walked further into the large oval room. Books upon books lined the walls, each of them oddly the same, dull gray color, with faded eerie writing that looked as if they were burned onto the leather.  
  
Paintings of vicious looking creatures hung around the room, each with glittering eyes and menacing expressions, as if they might actually jump out of the portrait. But as he eyed the large, black, double doors, the long creature that had been burned into the wood stood out most hauntingly.  
  
A basilisk.  
  
It's bright yellow eyes stared fixedly right at the very spot where he stood at that moment, glaring at Harry, seeming to dare him to come anywhere near the door to his way out. But this wasn't new for Harry, it all felt so familiar, and everything from his second year came back in a rush.  
  
*** Harry looked back at the snake, willing himself to believe it was alive. If he moved his head, the candlelight made it look as though it were moving.  
  
"Open up," he said.  
  
Except that the words weren't what he heard; a strange hissing had escaped him, and at once the tap glowed with a brilliant white light and began to spin. Next second, the sink began to move; the sink, in fact, sank right out of sight, leaving a large pipe exposed, a pipe wide enough for a man to slide into. ***  
  
Harry stared fixedly at the markings on the door, and it didn't take him long to believe the burned, embedded picture was a real snake.  
  
"Open," Harry, hissed a low - sounding indescribable word, which the doors reacted to immediately. The snake's eyes blinked once, as it's once wooden brown scales, turned a faint, living green. To his horror, the basilisk detached itself from the door, and slithered quickly across the floorboards, slowly closing in on the space between it and him.  
  
"Stupefy!"  
  
For a moment, the snake froze on the ground, giving Harry as much time as he needed to run out of the room, and lock the door tightly behind him. As he made his way down the hall, he heard two yells of fright from the room he had just come from that made Harry's heart drop.  
  
It sounded like Ron and Hermione.  
  
--  
  
  
  
Another hero, another mindless crime  
  
Behind the curtain in the pantomime  
  
On and on Does anybody know what we are living for?  
  
  
  
Whatever happened, we leave it all to chance  
  
Another heartache, another failed romance  
  
On and on Does anybody know what we are living for?  
  
  
  
The show must go on  
  
The show must go on  
  
-- 


	6. Come What May

Author's Note: Oh thank you so much to everyone that's reading this story, and the two really nice people, (Gingiesnap1 + Ectoplasmicstar7) who actually sent me mail, telling me how much they liked my story! This chapter is going to be very hard to write, because it's a bit cold.  
  
--  
  
  
  
His hand quivered as his light blue eyes widened in horror.  
  
Ron leveled his wand as the snake raised its long thick body to the ceiling, its thin blood red tongue flicking in and out, its eyes glittering with a hungry greed at the tall red headed boy that stood so willingly in the face of pure danger. The door rattled behind them as if someone was trying to get in, but the serpent paid no notice.  
  
Hermione made a squeak of horror as she clutched onto Ron's arm from behind. She had read about snakes so many times, and seen Harry talk to them- but never faced one before, or even knew how to ward one off.  
  
"This is an anguis, Ron," Hermione whispered frantically, digging back into the depths of her mind as if reading out of a textbook. Remember.. Remember.. Ah ha! "The word anguis, comes from the Latin word meaning snake or serpent. It's a long descendant of the basilisk, but looking this creature in the eye would hold no effect- because it chooses to kill its victim's with its violently poisonous fangs, which hold a dark green venom."  
  
But Ron was only half listening as his eyes focused determinedly on the enormous snake, poising itself for the kill, its head reaching the very top of the ceiling above. Hermione grasped his arm tighter, and held her wand at the ready, but nothing happened. One.. Two... Three.. Four... Nothing.  
  
"Hermione, what's it doing..?" Ron whispered, eyeing the creature expectantly. But before she could reply, the two heard a faint, low hissing sound from behind the locked door on the other side of the room. The two looked at each other, and then at the snake, which had currently closed its mouth in frustration, and blinked angrily at the door with wide, hungry yellow eyes.  
  
Then suddenly, as if making up its mind, the anguis wiped its head round quickly, its white sharp fangs glittering in the light, and arched its back forward, striking at them quickly. Hermione tried to gasp in surprise, but Ron had already reacted as he pushed them both onto the floor, in turn causing the snake to smash the window in a thousand pieces with a loud CRASH- glass scattering everywhere onto the floor.  
  
Silence.  
  
Hermione opened her eyes very slowly, just to meet Ron's. The two found themselves staring at each other sub consciously, drinking in the others scent without knowing it. Then, Ron, quite abruptly got up, helping her to her feet, and the two brushed off the loose pieces of glass on their robes.  
  
"Alright, Ron?" She asked quietly, eyeing the stone snake near them that was lying on the cold wooden floorboards. He winced slightly, and turned away.  
  
"Fine."  
  
"Ron are you sure-"  
  
"I'm fine Hermione, really. There's more important things to think about- like Ginny.." She nodded, and walked with him to the large thick brown door at the end of the room, and the two pushed it open with all their strength from the inside.  
  
The low creaking noise of the door echoed dully through the darkened halls, as well as their thumping footsteps along the floors as they ran, their shadows dancing upon the walls behind them with the lighted candles floating about above their heads. They ran down a flight of empty stairs, deeper and deeper into the depths of the mansion, the sound of faint dripping water driving into their thoughts like a cold merciless knife.  
  
"This must be it," Hermione whispered, touching the door they had come upon slowly, feeling the strange foreign smoothness under her fingertips of the etched pictures of snakes burned fiercely into the metal. Then, she slowly pushed the door open, and walked into the unusually rounded room, the freezing temperature dropping immediately as the fresh breath of air reached their noses.  
  
"Harry...?" Ron ran to the other side of the room, Hermione following him. Another shadow followed behind the two as well, carefully shutting the door as the cool emerald candle lights flickered in the darkness eerily.  
  
--  
  
  
  
Harry looked down at her, his green eyes glittering. Ginny lay in his arms, deathly pale with her freckles growing sickeningly fainter by the second. She felt so weak, and his heart sank lower just watching her die in his arms like this. He was powerless, and that's why he hated himself for it. Out of the corner of his glazed eyes, he could see Ron and Hermione approach, and she kneeled down next to him slowly, fishing in her pocket for something- then unveiling a small, thin vile.  
  
"Harry, we've made a healing potion for Ginny, it will cure anything life- threatening, but we've only got a small bit, so you have to give it to her quickly," Hermione said in a rush, eyeing the clock nervously behind him where its hand slowly tick Ginny's life away, where it now stood at 11:55.  
  
Before the two of them could make any move, Ginny groaned and sat up painfully. Harry looked at her in shock, and tried to protest, but he watched in confusion as Ginny's eyes focused on Ron, and widened in horror.  
  
"RON!" she gasped quietly. Harry and Hermione immediately looked up, but their best friend hand stood, partly turning away from them.  
  
"Go on, hurry and give her the medicine," he muttered through his clenched teeth, as if he were struggling with great pain. Harry's heart pounded so furiously he was sure Ginny could hear it as she lie in his arms, struggling weakly to get to her older brother.  
  
"Ron.. You've got.. To drink.. The medicine.. Not me," she forced, and Hermione instantly gasped almost in realization, and pulled Ron back down to a sitting position on the floor with them, and into the light. Seeing his best friend, Harry went dizzy with sickness at the sight and Hermione's mouth parted in a silent scream of terror.  
  
The pure white fang of the anguis had driven into his right arm insanely deep, blood pouring down his ripped robes and staining it with a dark red color, the gash in his arm now sickeningly open in the shining emerald light of the candles behind him. But what really hit Harry and Hermione hard, was the dark greenish liquid that was running down his arm, mixing with his crimson colored blood. It was venom.  
  
"Ron.."  
  
"GIVE GINNY THE MEDICINE," he yelled, his loud voice echoing through the room like the crack of a whip, which caused Hermione to jump and Ginny to shiver involuntarily.  
  
"No Ron, we have to save the both of you," Harry said determinedly.  
  
"Harry.. There's only enough healing potion for one person, and that venom could kill Ron in less then 30 seconds.." Hermione's voice shook as it grew fainter and died in the silence of the room. Ron shook his head slowly, his eyelids growing heavier, and Harry could see his physical state drop dangerously low as he watched his best friend sink lower to the floor.  
  
"Oh, Ron," Hermione whispered, trying to help him sit up. Burning tears filled Harry's eyes as he watched two of the most important people's lives go out like the faint light of a candle as if blown out by the wind in the merciless night. He felt physically sick because he had to tear himself in half and choose who meant most to him- who he really needed more. But before he could say anything more, Ginny crawled off of Harry's lap and onto the floor with all the strength she had left, grabbed the vile out of Hermione's hands, and pushed Ron to the ground, forcing him to drink the last bit of the potion.  
  
Harry and Hermione watched in utter horror as the two brother and sister struggled with each other's hands fiercely- trying to make the other drink the potion. All Harry could do was keep himself watching as his two friends lives began to fade. Pushing grew slower, vigorous moves grew weaker and eyes burned painfully.  
  
"Ginny.." Ron gasped, crumpling to the floor, her beside him. "Drink it.. Please.." She shook her head dizzily, and forced herself to lean on her arms, bending over her older brother.  
  
"Hermione loves you, Ron.. She needs you to live... Harry thinks of you like his long lost brother.. Your like family to him.. I've merely shown Harry love.. And that there.. is such a thing out there for him.. You all can.. Live on with your lives.. Without me.. But they need you most, Ron.. Drink it."  
  
One single tear ran down the side of her cheek as she handled the thin glass very carefully. 11:57. Ron looked up at his little sister, eyes glazed, but the pain was to great for him, so he couldn't even cry. 11:58. Ginny brought the vile to her brothers lips, and watched him drink the whole thing. 11:59. Everyone held their breath as Ron closed his eyes slowly, and didn't move.  
  
12:00.  
  
Ginny met Harry's eyes, and held it there. Two burning fires of brown and green clashed within each other like two menacing colored dragons at war with each other, the gaze intensifying. He could see the tears threatening his only loves eyes, threatening to reveal her pain to him, forcing her dangerously onto the cliff of her life.  
  
His first year, the little red haired girl standing at the station, waving frantically and trying to run after the large, glittering red Hogwarts Express as it flew down the tracks and out of sight. His second year, the quiet young Gryffindor that hid behind corners and only managed to smile shyly at him in the halls- but almost lost her life down in the Chamber Of Secrets. His third year, the more stronger freckle faced girl who had picked up her older brothers good humor and fun-loving personality along the way, joking with Harry about Percy and Penelope. His fourth year, where he almost didn't recognize her when her confidence around him had so suddenly and oddly grew, and she almost never blushed around him at all. His fifth year, her stature had grew amazingly, and she had caught his eye on more occasions then one, with her dazzlingly brown, shinning eyes. His sixth year, where her charms had completely engulfed his every thought at the end of that second ball, and Harry could still feel the same sickening guilty feeling he felt when he had turned her down that night. Finally, his seventh year. He had confessed his love for Ginny. She had returned it. Everything was perfect. So perfect, and now they would be separated forever.  
  
All these thoughts ran through his head, in just one moment.  
  
He looked at her, lying quietly in his arms. She looked like a sleeping angel to him, a work of pure beauty, through the darkest hours of the night. He watched her chest rise and fall, its pace slowing. For one moment, Ginny opened her eyes, and looked deep into his.  
  
'I love you', she mouthed. And then.. Her light when out.  
  
Harry sat there, holding her, his whole body shivering. He stared into her empty eyes, willing them to be light again. Light, he begged. He stared until his vision blurred, but he kept staring. His eyes began to water with a fire, but he didn't care. He stared. Then he felt them burn painfully, but he didn't care. His heart was broken. His dreams were slashed. He felt sick. He felt alone. He couldn't cry, he didn't know what to do, it was all a mess, confusion, pandemonium, insanity..  
  
"I-I-I l-l-love y-y-you," Harry whispered hoarsely, and closed Ginny's eyes with shaking fingertips for the last time. She would never see again. He also bent down and kissed her cold, soft lips, before pulling away, now shaking more violently. She would never kiss again. Harry held her hand in his, heart pounding furiously as his breathing became ragged and forced. She would never touch or feel again. Ever. For all of time.  
  
Forever.  
  
Then, the tears came. They poured down his cheeks like a plague, burning his heart like a fire and stinging his eyes painfully from sight. He gasped over and over again, hyperventilating, his entire body shaking violently as he bent over Ginny, willing himself to believe she was alright- to drug his mind with doubt.. Anything but give in to her death.. ANYTHING!  
  
His heart screamed, and he screamed. He howled to the ceiling like a dying animal in a cage, screaming a long, sorrowful cry of physical and emotional pain, taking his entire life and yelling, crying, shaking, screaming himself into nothing. It wasn't fair, life wasn't fair.  
  
"GINNY!" he screamed toward the heavens, shaking the very stars above, until he had no more voice left. Then, he laid himself beside her, and fainted into the darkness of his swirling mind.  
  
--  
  
Never knew I could feel like this  
  
Like I've never seen the sky before  
  
Want to vanish inside your kiss  
  
Everyday I love you more and more  
  
  
  
Listen to my heart can't you hear it sing?  
  
Telling me to give you everything  
  
Seasons may change winter to spring  
  
But I love you until the end of time  
  
  
  
Come what may  
  
Come what may  
  
I will love you  
  
Until my dying day  
  
  
  
Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place  
  
Suddenly it moves with such a perfect grace  
  
Suddenly my life doesn't seem such a waiste  
  
It all revolves around you  
  
  
  
And there's no mountain too high  
  
No river to wide  
  
Sing out this song and I'll be there by your side  
  
Storm clouds may gather and stars may collide  
  
  
  
But I love you  
  
Until the end of time  
  
Come what may  
  
Come what may 


	7. There Was A Boy

--  
  
  
  
Days had passed since the death of his only love. For some reason, the sun didn't seem to glow within it's radiance anymore, and the stars seemed to loose it's breath-taking beauty. He knew in his heart that no one had been hurt as much as he had... Ever since Ginny left, she had taken a part of him with her.  
  
Sometimes he woke in the night, breathing ragged and clutching the bed sheets tightly in his shaking hands. He would roll to his side and grasp his pillow, and cry himself for long hours until he finally drifted back into the one place he felt safe. His dreams. He saw her standing there, with that beautiful smile. She would hold him close, and whisper words of hope in his ears, hope of a better day, that the sun would rise in the sky and shine its pity onto him one day. One day.  
  
She told him that everyone needed him that they couldn't live without him. He could remember listening to her soft voice even when he woke in the late hours of the day, her voice echoing in his ears and marking his heart forever.  
  
Harry sat now, on the roof of the tallest tower, overlooking the vast Hogwarts grounds below. His emerald eyes glittered in the light as the blazing sun rose slowly, climbing up over the line of dark trees. The soft, kind wind teased the black strands of hair that still etched his pale face. His glasses lie next to him, because he just didn't need them. Remembering what Ginny had said once, he had taken them off.  
  
**"Sometimes you just don't need to see to feel, Harry. Sometimes its what's in your heart that matters the most, and you don't need your eyes to see it."**  
  
There she is, he thought as a smile crossed his face for the first time in weeks. He fixed his gaze upon the fiery sun that hung in the balance between earth and the heavens above, that blazing red orb, the orange color. Her hair. Then he looked down at the glittering lake below, and as the sun reflected its light over the surface, it shined with such a beauty and magnificence he could only think of her pure heart and soul. The strong bark of the trees caught his eye as well, because he could remember looking deep within her eyes, past just the simplicity of its brown color- to see the love, caring, fun person she really was. You could always tell how she felt by her eyes, he knew.  
  
And even now, when her light had long since flickered out, he could still feel her presence, as if she was sitting next to him on top of the tower itself, putting her hand over his and telling him that everything.. Everything would be all right once more.  
  
"Come what may," he found himself whispering, the wind carrying his voice away towards the bright blue sky, and to where he knew she was, happy once again. "I will love you, until my dying.." No thoughts crossed his mind then, and no words were needed to express how he felt now, in that moment. Harry knew in his heart there was no need to finish it, but he just needed to say goodbye, and this was his only way.  
  
"Day."  
  
--  
  
  
  
There was a boy  
  
A very strange, enchanted boy  
  
They say he wandered very far, very far  
  
Over land and sea  
  
A little shy, and sad of eye  
  
But very wise was he  
  
  
  
And then one day  
  
One magic day, he passed my way  
  
And while we spoke of many things  
  
Fools and kings  
  
This he said to me  
  
The greatest thing, you'll ever learn  
  
Is just to love, and be loved in return  
  
--  
  
  
  
-End- 


End file.
